THE 


MIAMI 


BULLETIN 


[Published  monthly  by  Miami  University  and  entered  at  the  Post  Office  at  Oxford, 
Ohio,  as  Second  Class  Mail  Matter.] 


SEIRIBS  V 


SEPTEMBER,  1906 


NUMBER  7 


Botanical  Science  in  Miami  University 
College  of  Liberal  Arts 


The  problem  of  the  place  of  any  branch  of  learning-  in 
colleges  of  liberal  arts  is  a larg-e  one.  Many  subjects  have 
disciplinary  and  practical  worth,  and  we  are  compelled  to 
weigh  values  as  carefully  as  possible  and  to  give  place  to  any 
particular  subject  only  after  mature  consideration.  Coincident 
with  the  expansion  and  adjustment  in  other  directions  in 
Miami  University,  it  has  been  thought  wise  to  establish  a 
department  of  Botany,  on  the  supposition  that  the  branch  is 
one  worthy  of  a place  in  the  curriculum.  With  the  establish- 
ment of  the  new  department,  we  may  very  profitably  consider 
the  place  of  botanical  science  in  our  institution.  And  this  is 
a different,  and  perhaps  an  easier,  problem  than  would  be  the 
consideration  of  the  place  of  Botany  in  colleges  of  liberal 
arts  in  general.  Each  institution  has  its  peculiar  function  to 
perform,  and  every  teacher  worthy  of  the  name  has  his  own 
conception  as  to  the  most  important  content  of  his  subject 
and  the  best  method  of  presentation;  hence  the  scope  of  our 
inquiry  is  considerably  limited. 

While  not  attempting  to  consider  fully  botanical  science 
in  its  general  academic  relations,  it  seems  necessary  before 
passing  to  a consideration  of  the  place  and  the  function  of  the 
science  in  our  institution,  to  state  briefly  and  all  too  incom- 
pletely what  the  word  Botany  signifies  to  the  botanist  and  to 
the  student  properly  trained  in  the  subject.  Doubtless  many 
readers  can  recall  their  studies  in  Botany,  in  which  all  or 
nearly  all  the  time  was  given  to  the  seed-plants,  one  of  the 
six  phyla  of  the  plant  world.  Who  would  think  of  giving 


the  same  time  to  insects,  calling-  such  a study  a course  in 
Zoology?  Yet  the  insects  form  a larger  portion  of  animals 
than  do  seed-plants  of  plants  as  a whole.  Again,  who  would 
offer  a course  in  a foreign  language,  confined  to  consideration 
of  the  conjugations  and  declensions?  Nevertheless,  the  con- 
ception which  many  persons  have  of  Botany  shows  only  too 
plainly  the  imprint  of  quite  as  partial  a presentation.  Bot- 
any as  a pure  science  has  to  do  at  least  with  the  morphology, 
the  ecology,  the  physiology  and  the  taxonomy  of  all  plants 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  Again,  each  of  these  general 
departments  of  the  subject  is  capable  of  much  subdivision, 
and  if  we  pass  to  the  field  of  applied  Botany,  this  phase  of 
the  science  is  quite  as  rich  in  present  expansion  and  future 
possibility.  Indeed,  when  one  gets  well  into  the  subject,  he 
finds  that,  in  its  present  state  of  development,  it  is  impossible 
for  any  man  to  be  thoroughly  well  informed  in  all  aspects  of 
the  subject;  nor  is  there  an  institution  where  all  the  phases, 
even  of  pure  botanical  science,  are  presented  in  any  sort  of 
fashion.  And  thus  it  appears  that  the  days  of  the  old  fash- 
ioned idealistic  morphology,  based  largely  on  a taxonomic 
knowledge  of  flowering  plants,  have  passed;  with  them  has 
disappeared  the  institution  that  could  boast  that  its  field  in 
Botany  was  as  large  as  the  science.  So  every  institution  of 
liberal  culture  must  solve  its  own  botanical  question,  and  the 
kind  and  amount  of  Botany  that  obtains  will  depend  upon  its 
needs  as  seen  by  all  interested,  and  especially  by  the  man  or 
the  men  in  charge  of  the  work. 

Botanical  opportunity  is  rapidly  increasing,  both  for  the 
student  of  pure  botanical  science  and  for  the  man  or  woman 
who  turns  to  some  feature  of  applied  Botany.  Applied  Bot- 
any has  extensively  invaded  the  fields  of  agriculture,  manu- 
facturing and  commerce  in  one  way  or  another  and  is  in  turn 
very  largely  the  outgrowth  of  studies  in  the  pure  science. 
The  research  student  makes  the  discovery,  and  the  man  who 
devotes  himself  to  applied  Botany  takes  advantage  of  the 
results  of  research  for  himself,  for  some  corporation,  or  for 
the  state  or  nation.  For  this  reason  Botany  is  coming  to  get 
its  full  share  of  support  from  institutions  of  learning,  from 
states  and  from  nations;  and  it  is  apparent  enough  that  the 


subject  is  an  important  one  for  its  own  sake,  wholly  aside 
from  its  value  in  a course  in  liberal  arts.  The  science  is  now 
doing  its  full  share  both  in  a technical  way  and  in  the  field  of 
economics,  and  its  growth  in  the  last  decade  is  a marvel  to  all 
who  have  carefully  watched  the  great  expansion.  Witness 
the  great  growth  of  state  and  national  departments  of  agri- 
culture with  all  their  divisions  and  bureaus  and  the  beginning 
of  establishment  of  botanical  research  laboratories.  Note 
that  there  is  wonderful  activity  in  Botanical  research,  such 
an  institution  as  the  Carnegie  sending  out  more  researches 
in  Botany  than  in  any  other  science.  Then  there  is  great 
demand  for  teachers  of  Botany  in  high  schools,  where  young 
men  and  women  are  needed  who  have  not  simply  had  nature 
study  work,  good  as  that  is,  but  who  have  had  as  good  a 
training  in  the  science  as  can  be  obtained  in  undergraduate 
courses,  and  this  supplemented  by  graduate  study  if  possible. 
In  most  states  Botany  stands  second  only  to  Physics  and 
Geography  among  natural  and  physical  sciences,  as  to  num- 
ber of  courses  given  in  high  schools,  and  it  is  incumbent  upon 
institutions  of  higher  learning  to  see  to  it  that  the  botanical 
instruction  in  high  schools  is  up  to  the  high  standard  at- 
tained in  Physics  as  soon  as  we  can  turn  out  a sufficient 
number  of  teachers  well  prepared  in  the  subject.  Thus  it  is 
an  important  part  of  our  work  in  the  college  of  liberal  arts 
to  give  instruction  in  Botany  for  its  own  sake. 

All  branches  of  learning  are  related,  all  educational 
values  are  relative,  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  ascribe  to 
one  subject  a kind  of  value  not  found  in  greater  or  less  degree 
in  some  other.  Yet,  if  we  compare  Botany  with  the  other 
biological  science,  we  find  that  it  has  certain  special  advan- 
tages as  a subject  used  in  liberal  culture  courses.  Plants  are 
more  abundant  than  animals  and  are  therefore  more  accessi- 
ble for  study  in  the  field  and  in  the  laboratory.  The  plant 
tissues  are  more  easily  manipulated  in  the  laboratory  than 
are  animal  tissues,  and  the  plant  structures  stand  out  more 
plainly.  Reproductive  processes  can  be  studied  much  more 
easily  in  plants  than  in  animals.  Also,  plants  stand  in  closer 
relation  to  the  inorganic  world  than  do  animals,  being,  so  to 
speak,  intermediate  in  a chemical  and  physiological  sense; 


and  this  fact  gives  them  another  kind  of  special  value  as 
objects  of  study.  Plant  evolution  has  taken  a direction  quite 
different  from  animal  evolution,  involving  alternation  of 
generations  and  almost  total  loss  or  suppression  of  sense 
organs  and  nervous  tissue,  so  that  Botany  has  a special  kind 
of  interest  from  the  standpoint  of  racial  development.  Final- 
ly, we  are  convinced  that  plants  are  of  greater  economic  value 
to  man  than  animals,  excluding  man  himself,  and  that  the 
economic  phases  of  Botany  are  of  greater  importance  than 
those  of  any  other  subject  in  the  realm  of  science.  It  is  ad- 
mitted readily  enough  that  the  last  statement  is  debatable, 
but  even  if  it  is  an  exaggeration,  there  are  quite  as  many 
special  features  within  the  field  of  applied  Botany  as  have 
been  pointed  out  in  the  pure  science.  Biologists  have  no 
quarrel  regarding  the  relative  merits  of  Botany  and  Zoology 
as  subjects  of  instruction,  and  it  would  be  a most  ungracious 
procedure  for  any  botanist  or  any  zoologist  to  attempt  to 
prove  his  science  superior  to  the  other  closely  related  science 
as  a whole,  and  quite  as  impossible  for  him  to  maintain  his 
position.  So  it  is  in  order,  in  concluding  this  paragraph,  to 
repeat  that  the  object  has  been  to  bring  out  the  special  merits 
of  Botany,  without  any  thought  of  attempting  to  say  that  it 
is  superior  as  a whole. 

It  has  been  the  view  of  the  writer  during  all  of  his  teach- 
ing experience  that  the  morphological  side  of  botanical 
science  is  the  one  which  should  have  the  first  place  in  ele- 
mentary courses  in  colleges,  the  courses  covering  all  the  great 
classes  of  the  plant  kingdom  and  including  a consideration  of 
life  histories,  racial  development,  relationships,  methods  of 
life  and  classification.  But  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that, 
with  the  modern  tendency  toward  specialization,  has  come  a 
feeling  of  the  greater  need  of  correlation,  so  that,  as  we  come 
into  possession  of  a more  complete  knowledge  of  our  subject, 
the  old  line  of  demarcation  between  its  various  aspects  tends 
to  disappear.  For  instance,  the  morphologist  who  has  also  a 
general  view  of  plant  physiology  unconsciously  brings  the 
facts  of  physiology  to  bear  upon  his  morphological  instruc- 
tion, thereby  greatly  enriching  the  course.  Nor  should  it  be 
supposed  that  courses  in  morphology  will  be  given  in  Miami 
University  to  the  exclusion  of  important  work  in  physiology 


and  ecology,  simply  leaving  these  two  subjects  of  growing 
importance  to  such  frequent  incursions  as  may  be  profitably 
made  from  the  courses  in  morphology.  Again,  our  conditions 
seem  to  demand  recognition  of  some  of  the  phases  of  applied 
Botany. 

While  it  is  not  the  belief  of  the  writer  that  a course  hav- 
ing a technical  end  in  view  has  the  same  kind  of  value  as  a 
course  designed  primarily  for  liberal  culture,  yet  we  cannot 
afford  to  ignore  the  applied  aspects  of  such  a science  as  Bot- 
any. For  instance,  a course  in  medical  Bacteriology  has  not 
as  much  cultural  value  as  a course  in  general  plant  morphol- 
ogy, with  its  broader  scope,  in  which  frequent  incursions  may 
be  made  into  other  fields  of  botanical  science  and  in  which 
the  relations  of  botanical  science  as  a whole  to  other  branches 
of  liberal  arts  can  be  brought  out  briefly  without  making  a 
hotchpotch  of  the  subject.  In  the  courses  in  applied  science 
the  practical  end  must  be  kept  so  constantly  in  mind  that  the 
cultural  aspects  are  lost  sight  of  to  a greater  or  less  degree. 
However,  we  must  give  our  botanical  students  some  know- 
ledge of  the  great  fields  of  economic  Botany,  such  as  the 
prevention  of  infectious  diseases,  the  fertilization  of  soils 
through  the  use  of  nitrogen-fixing  bacteria,  the  improvement 
of  our  economic  plants  and  the  introduction  of  new  ones,  the 
investigation  of  fungal  and  other  plant  diseases  and  the  very 
important  work  in  Forestry.  It  will  be  impossible  in  the  im- 
mediate future  to  give  courses  in  other  aspects  of  applied 
Botany  than  Bacteriology  and  Dendrology,  but  advanced  stu- 
dents will  be  given  some  knowledge  of  other  fields  through 
seminar  work.  Mr.  B.  T.  Galloway,  Chief  of  the  Division  of 
Plant  Pathology  at  Washington,  in  discussing  the  recent  ex- 
pansion in  economic  Botany,  writes  as  follows, — “In  the  light 
of  these  developments,  an  important  question  to  consider  is: 
Where  are  the  workers  to  be  trained?  Undoubtedly  in  the 
future  much  greater  interest  will  be  taken  in  botanical  work 
in  our  educational  institutions,  for  it  is  gradually  coming  to 
the  knowledge  of  young  men  that  there  is  a demand  for  per- 
sons trained  in  plant  lines.  As  a matter  of  fact,  during  the 
last  few  years  the  supply  of  such  men  has  not  been  equal  to 
the  demand.”  Our  work  must  be  primarily  along  the  lines  of 


pure  botanical  science,  but  the  knowledge  gained  in  them, 
besides  its  value  in  liberal  culture,  lies  at  the  basis  of  all 
work  in  applied  Botany,  so  that  the  student  who  would  event- 
ually enter  some  field  of  economic  Botany  must  have  first  the 
knowledge  given  in  our  courses  in  pure  Botany. 

It  would  require  too  much  space  to  attempt  to  state  here 
precisely  what  we  will  include  in  our  courses  in  morphology, 
ecology,  physiology,  bacteriology  and  dendrology,  nor  would 
such  a procedure  be  in  order  at  this  time.  In  fact,  the  con- 
tent of  any  course  in  a rapidly  growing  science  must  change 
so  rapidly  that  any  statement  that  might  be  made  would 
begin  to  become  antiquated  before  the  printer’s  ink  were  dry. 
But  if  anyone  still  supposes,  after  reading  this  paper  thus  far, 
that  we  will  teach  students  to  know  this  or  that  plant  simply  • 
as  a matter  of  curiosity  or  knowledge,  throw  the  thought  to 
the  winds;  for  this  is  not  the  important  feature  of  the  work, 
though  it  may  be  the  part  that  first  presents  itself  to  one  who 
sees  a class  at  work,  just  as  one  who  cannot  appreciate  music 
sees  in  the  performance  of  an  accomplished  pianist  only  a dis- 
play of  physical  energy.  The  student  in  our  courses,  it  is 
hoped,  will  find  that  there  is  excellent  opportunity  for  the 
study  of  cells,  tissues,  organs,  structure,  function  and  devel- 
opment, requiring  unprejudiced  and  most  careful  observation, 
reasoning  and  judgment  at  every  turn.  Here,  too,  he  will  find 
opportunity  to  work  with  his  hands  while  disciplining  his 
mind  and  will  be  referred  to  original  sources  or  thrown  on  his 
own  resources  often  enough  so  that  he  will  catch  the  spirit  of 
original  investigation  in  his  undergraduate  work.  In  college 
courses  must  come  discriminating  comparisons  of  function, 
form  and  symmetry;  considerations  of  the  origin  of  tissues 
and  organs,  discussions  of  differentiation  and  integration,  cor- 
relations, homologies  and  analogies;  and  minute  studies  of 
reproductive  processes,  alternation  of  generations,  changes  of 
form  and  function,  and  probable  lines  of  plant  evolution. 

It  must  be  the  constant  aim  of  the  department  to  keep 
abreast  of  the  best  thought  in  the  various  lines  of  botanical 
work  undertaken.  The  morphology  given  must  not  be  of  the 
older  disconnected  sort,  but  must  be  rather  a philosophical 
morphology  based  upon  relationships,  making  the  subject  a 


connected  whole  as  much  as  is  a course  in  mathemat- 
ics. The  work  in  other  lines  must  also  be  kept  up  to  the 
best  thoug-ht  along-  these  lines.  In  order  to  accomplish  this 
purpose  there  must  be  constant  revision  and  expansion  in  the 
department,  and  an  intimate  relationship  must  exist  between 
our  lecture  room  and  laboratories  and  those  of  other  institu- 
tions, throug-h  recourse  to  literature  and  throug-h  correspon- 
dence and  visits.  And  once  more,  quite  apart  from  Botany 
itself,  an  attempt  will  be  made  at  all  times  to  correlate  the 
subject  by  occasional  incursions  into  other  fields  of  liberal  cul- 
ture such  as  Zoology,  Palaeontology,  Geology,  Geography, 
Sociology,  Philosophy,  Psychology,  Physics  and  Chemistry; 
not  for  the  sake  of  these  branches,  but  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  the  student  a knowledge  of  the  inter-relationships  of 
various  subjects  with  special  view  to  their  bearing  upon  bot- 
anical science.  Such  incursions  must  consist  of  a word  not 
indulged  in  frequently  enough  to  lessen  in  any  degree  the 
continuity  of  the  courses  in  Botany,  but  merely  introduced  at 
pertinent  points,  in  such  a manner  as  to  make  for  breadth  of 
culture. 

And  we  are  not  pleading  for  a kind  of  botanical  instruc- 
tion which  will  have  in  view  only  the  training  of  students 
who  are  to  become  botanists.  The  instructor  just  from  the 
university  too  frequently  emphasizes  this  phase  of  the  subject, 
measuring  his  success  as  a teacher  too  much  by  the  number  of 
students  that  he  sends  on  into  the  graduate  courses.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  teacher  must  remember  that,  worthy  as  is  the 
ambition  to  send  some  of  his  students  on  into  advanced  courses 
and  research  or  into  the  economic  phases  of  his  subject,  a 
more  important  part  of  his  task  in  the  college  of  liberal  arts 
at  least  is  training  for  citizenship  and  right  living.  Then  in 
teaching  a first  course,  and  even  in  all  subsequent  work,  the 
teacher  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  is  in  real- 
ity a very  close  relationship  between  his  science  and  good 
citizenship  and  real  strength  of  character. 

In  thus  instructing  for  strengthening  character  and  for 
aiding  highest  living,  the  teacher  must  inculcate  the  scientific 
method,  which  has  in  recent  years  gained  ground  everywhere 
and  is  making  so  much  for  intelligent,  strong  and  useful  liv- 


ing.  Nor  may  he  neglect  to  give  his  pupil  such  a view  of  the 
plant  world  as  will  enable  him  to  appreciate  it,  to  enjoy  it 
and  to  make  the  best  of  it  for  himself  and  for  the  community, 
the  commonwealth,  the  nation  or  the  world.  The  student  of 
Botany  should  learn  to  approach  a problem  without  any  fixed 
prejudice  and  often  without  any  knowledge  as  to  what  its 
study  is  to  reveal;  he  should  observe,  compare  and  gradually 
arrive  at  a conclusion. 

And  this  is  not  a matter  of  text-books,  nor  indeed  can  it 
be  more  than  suggested  in  the  best  book.  It  is  rather  a mat- 
ter of  method  of  teaching.  It  frequently  takes  the  student 
away  from  the  text-book  and  lecture  room,  leading  him  to  the 
laboratory  and  to  the  field  where  he  may  observe  and  draw 
conclusions  and  thus  become  in  some  limited  sense  an  investi- 
gator for  himself.  So  even  the  field  work  becomes  a real  and 
vital  portion  of  botanical  instruction,  the  trips  not  being  pic- 
nic parties  as  may  appear  to  an  outsider,  but  a means  by  which 
much  vital  instruction  can  be  given  and  the  student  can  be 
brought  into  contact  with  the  plant  world  very  much  as  he 
will  see  it  in  after  life.  Here  then  the  student  comes  to 
appreciate  plants  as  they  live  and  perform  their  functions  and 
not  as  they  appear  as  lifeless  things  in  laboratories,  museums 
and  herbaria.  Here  too  as  well  as  in  the  laboratory  is  unfolded 
to  the  observer  much  of  the  beautiful  adaptation  of  the  plant 
to  its  environment,  so  that  in  the  field  the  student  ma}7  be 
taught  to  reason  and  draw  conclusions.  Thus  both  in  the 
laboratory  and  in  the  field  he  may  be  trained  to  approach 
problems  without  prejudice,  to  observe  things  as  they  really 
are,  often  quite  different  from  the  statement  of  the  best  text- 
book or  teacher,  and  to  report  just  what  he  sees.  Who  can 
doubt  that  this  kind  of  study  will  aid  greatly  in  training  the 
student  in  the  habit  of  patient  and  unprejudiced  consideration 
of  the  great  problems  of  life,  and  aid  in  securing  some  of  the 
highest  qualifications  for  helpful  and  noble  citizenship? 

Finally,  it  will  be  understood  readily  enough  from  the 
above  statements  that  the  writer  does  not  regard  the  impart- 
ing of  knowledge  of  Botany  for  the  sake  of  the  science  as  the 
most  important  object  of  a course  in  his  subject.  He  does  not 
admit  that  Botany  is  inferior  to  any  other  subject  in  valuable 


content,  but  he  does  hold  that  the  teacher  who,  in  any  subject- 
makes  mere  knowledge  the  prime  object  of  instruction,  is  not 
fit  to  hold  a chair  in  any  institution  whose  object  is  liberal 
culture.  The  information  acquired  as  to  plant  forms  and  rela- 
tionships, their  character  and  uses  and  the  inter-relations  of 
the  various  phases  of  the  subject  as  well  as  its  relations  to 
other  branches  of  learning  is  important  and  will  be  found  a 
source  of  constant  enjoyment  and  profit  in  after  life.  But  we 
must  place  enjoyment  and  utility  for  selfish  ends  after  train- 
ing for  character  and  citizenship.  And  while  the  content  of 
Botany  is  of  such  a nature  that  the  subject  naturally  conduces 
to  high  thinking,  in  this  branch,  as  in  any  other,  success  in 
the  realization  of  our  ideals  depends  very  largely  upon  the 
method  of  presentation  and  what  the  instructor  demands  of 
the  student  in  way  of  careful,  consciencious  work  and  honesty 
of  purpose.  Bruce  Fink. 


Faculty  Changes  at  Miami 

Besides  the  substitutes  for  the  four  who  are  gone,  perma- 
nently or  on  leave,  seven  additional  names  appear  on  the 
faculty  roll  at  the  opening  of  the  new  year.  The  University 
is  much  strengthened  by  these  accessions,  and  another  stride 
is  made  in  the  steady  advance  of  Greater  Miami. 

Principal  Lantis,  and  Director  Davis,  of  Manual  Train- 
ing, have  resigned,  while  Professors  Hoke  and  Parker  are 
absent  on  leave  for  the  year,  the  former  studying  in  Europe, 
the  latter  at  Columbia  University.  The  courses  in  Education 
will  be  in  charge  of  Professor  Warren  Darst,  A.  M.,  for  the 
past  two  years  a valued  member  of  our  summer  term  faculty. 

Bruce  Fink,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Botany  and  Bacteri- 
ology, is  the  first  head  of  this  newly  created  department. 
He  earned  his  B.  S.  at  the  Universit}7  of  Illinois  in  1887,  and 
his  M.  S.  there  also  in  1894.  He  studied  at  Harvard,  being 
laboratory  assistant  and  graduate  scholar,  and  receiving  his 
A.  M.  in  1896.  He  then  did  graduate  work  at  the  University 
of  Minnesota,  winning  his  Ph.  D.  in  1899.  After  five  years’ 
service  as  principal  of  public  schools,  Dr.  Fink  was  Professor 


of  Biology  at  Upper  Iowa  University  from  1892  to  1903,  with 
leaves  as  noted  above  for  graduate  work;  then  from  1903  to 
1906  Professor  of  Botany  at  Iowa  College.  He  has  contrib- 
uted largely  to  botanical  and  other  scientific  journals,  and  is 
member  of  several  scientific  societies. 

The  erection  of  this  chair  is  of  prime  importance,  and 
Dr.  Fink  expounds  the  significance  of  the  new  department 
and  courses  in  an  extended  article  in  this  issue  of  the  Bulletin. 

Benjamin  Marshall  Davis,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Ele- 
mentary Agriculture  in  the  Ohio  State  Normal  School  of 
Miami  University,  first  fills  a chair  which  fairly  rivals  the 
one  just  treated.  His  B.  S.  is  from  an  Indiana  college,  his 
graduate  work  done  at  the  University  of  California,  which 
granted  him  Ph.  D.  last  year.  He  has  taught  at  the  Southern 
University  of  California  and  at  the  State  University  at  Berk- 
ley, and  has  for  several  years  held  the  chair  of  Elementary 
Agriculture  at  the  State  Normal  School  at  Chico,  Calif.  He 
has  contributed  many  articles  to  the  magazines  of  the  Pacific 
slope.  Professor  Davis  will  enter  upon  his  new  duties  at 
Miami  next  January,  and  his  coming  will  inaugurate  a new 
era  in  normal  training  in  Ohio,  whose  significance  to  the 
commonwealth  cannot  adequately  be  foretold. 

Fred  Campbell  Whitcomb,  B.  S.,  Professor  of  Manual 
Training,  and  Director  of  Arts  and  Crafts,  received  his  B.  S. 
from  Franklin  College,  Indiana,  and  studied  one  year  at  Indi- 
ana University.  A graduate  from  the  two-year  professional 
course  at  the  Trachers’  College  of  Columbia  University,  with 
the  diploma  for  teaching  Manual  Training,  he  did  subsequent 
work  at  Pratt  Institute  and  Columbia,  holding  at  the  latter  a 
graduate  scholarship.  After  high  school  principalships  in 
Indiana,  he  has  for  two  years  been  Professor  of  Manual 
Training  and  Director  of  the  School  of  Manual  Arts  organ- 
ized by  him  at  Howard  University,  Washington,  D.  C.  Pro- 
fessor Whitcomb  has  written  series  of  articles  for  professional 
periodicals,  and  is  a member  of  the  leading  learned  societies 
in  his  line. 

Alfred  Horatio  Upham,  A.  M.,  was  graduated  an 
.honor  man  of  the  class  of  ’97  at  Miami.  The  year  following 


he  had  charge  of  the  department  of  Latin  during  the  absence 
of  Professor  Langsdorf.  Receiving  his  A.  M.  in  1898,  he 
remained  for  two  years  longer  as  instructor  in  Latin  and 
Greek  in  the  Preparatory.  Then  came  two  years  graduate 
work  in  English  under  Professor  Kittredge  at  Harvard,  which 
gave  him  A.  M.  in  1901.  From  1902  to  1905  he  was  Professor 
of  English  in  the  Agricultural  College  of  Utah.  Last  year 
he  was  Columbia  University  Fellow  in  Comparative  Literature 
studying  under  Professors  Fletcher  and  Springarn,  and  par- 
tially completing  a dissertation  on  the  French  Influence  in 
English  Literature  from  the  Accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to 
the  Restoration. 

William  Henry  Whitcomb,  M.  S.,  Assistant  Professor 
of  Chemistry,  attended  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, and  received  the  degree  of  B.  S.  in  Chemistry  in  1903.. 
The  next  year  he  was  Assistant  in  Physics  and  Electro-  and. 
Physico-Chemistry  in  his  alma  mater  and  the  following  year 
he  remained  as  fellow  and  took  his  M.  S.  Last  year  he  served 
there  as  Assistant  in  Physics. 

William  Ferdinand  Luebke,  A.  M.,  Assistant  Professor 
of  German,  earned  his  A.  B.  at  the  Northwestern  University 
of  Watertown,  Wis.,  in  1903.  A year  later  he  took  the  same 
degree  from  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  remaining  another 
year  as  graduate  scholar  in  German.  Last  year  he  taught 
German  in  the  Waukesha,  Wis.,  HigJi  School  and  put  in  the 
summer  of  1906  in  graduate  work  in  German  at  the  University 
of  Chicago. 

Raymond  Vincent  Phelan,  Ph.  D.,  Assistant  Professor 
of  Economics  and  Sociology,  attended  Adelbert  College  of 
Western  Reserve  University,  in  1902  received  his  Ph.  B.  from 
Western  Reserve,  and  two  years  later  his  A.  M.  During  1904-5’ 
he  held  the  graduate  scholarship  in  Economics  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin  and,  for  the  following  year,  the  Univer- 
sity fellowship  in  Economics  there,  receiving  his  Ph.  D.  from 
Wisconsin  last  June.  For  two  summers  past  Dr.  Phelan  has 
been  Special  Agent  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Tax  Commission. 
He  is  the  author  of  The  Financial  History  of  Wisconsin  and 


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the  writer  of  various  articles  on  economic,  historical,  and 
literary  subjects. 

Mrs.  Carrie  Putnam  Herndon.,  Ph.  M.,  comes  to  Miami 
as  Instructor  in  History  in  the  Normal  College.  She  was 
graduated  from  the  Illinois  State  Normal  University  in  1893 
with  the  honors  of  the  class.  Five  years  service  as  teacher 
in  the  Morgan  Park  Schools  preceded  a course  at  Chicago 
University,  whence  she  took  her  Ph.  B.  in  1901,  with  honora- 
ble mention.  For  the  next  year  Mrs.  Herndon  was  Critic 
Teacher  in  the  Chicago  Normal,  then  for  three  years  Profes- 
sor of  History  in  Southwest  Kansas  College.  Last  year  she 
held  a scholarship  in  History  at  Chicago  University  which 
granted  her  thePh.  M.  last  June  upon  the  Thesis  “The  Fi- 
nancial Policy  of  Mirabeau. 

Raymond  Hugh  Burke,  B.  S.,  Instructor  in  Geography 
and  Nature  Study,  was  from  1902  to  1905  a student  at  Ober- 
lin  College.  After  extensive  travels  in  the  southwestern 
United  States  for  purposes  of  study,  he  returned  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  where  he  studied  last  year  and  last  sum- 
mer. Chicago  granted  him  B.  S.  last  June  and  during  the 
past  summer  term  he  supplied  Professor  Hoke’s  place  at 
Miami.  An  experience  as  teacher  in  the  country  schools  adds 
a valuable  element  to  his  equipment  for  work  in  our  Normal 
College. 

Omer  Konn  Boring,  Instructor  in  Spanish,  after  two 
years  as  student  at  Miami,  went  to  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1904 
and  attended  the  summer  school  of  the  Alliance  Francaise, 
graduating  from  the  same  with  the  Diplome  Superieur.  Then 
followed  a sojourn  of  eighteen  months  in  Spain,  for  one  year 
of  which  he  was  in  Madrid  as  a student  at  the  Universidad 
Central,  pursuing  courses  in  the  history  of  Spain  and  of 
Spanish  literature.  He  returned  for  the  spring  term  of  1906 
at  Miami,  and  expects  to  take  his  degree  next  June,  mean- 
while giving  instruction  in  Spanish  and  French. 


